For many people raising chickens is their first step in growing their own food. The incentives of raising your own poultry are numerous but, primarily, a fresh supply of eggs might be the most popular reason people raise chickens. I still remember getting our first mix of newborn chicks mailed to us from the hatchery. We were very excited with the prospect of farm fresh eggs collected daily from the free ranging flock. Each January, when the hatchery sends us…
Tis the season to gather wood, that is. When cold temperatures settle in to the high country of SW Montana (typically mid to late October) we have to think about heating our house. Let me digress a bit. In June we were already thinking about stockpiling the wood supply in preparation for the cold months ahead, which are sometimes hard to discern from the “warm months”. Fact: There is an 80% chance of the first 28 degree day by…
Homesteading?! The first things that might pop into your head are the Oregon Trail, the Wild West, and settlers flocking across the western US Territory to start a new life away from Eastern civilization where getting ahead was near impossible. In the 1860’s the first homestead act was passed by congress to encourage migration west in hopes of improving trade and the US economy. Families were required to work the land for a number of years before it was granted…